Saturday, 13 February 2016

Valentines & Avoiding the Cringe Factor

I adore my boyfriend. I think the sun shines out of his rear-end, and I would take a bullet to the butt for him. However, I can't do soppy. I try so hard, but I just can't do it. Big pink love hearts, and teddy bears holding balloons tend to make me recoil in horror...I don't do cringe.

So this is a little guide, for those of you with a cold, dead heart like me, who'd rather do Valentines minus all the mush.

Yeah...you could go for dinner. Dinner is nice and food is good, but chances are you're going to end up opposite a load of other couples, all in competition for who can be the most sickly.

Yeah....you could go around the London Eye, and stare out into the view together, but chances are you're going to cramped in with tourists elbowing you out of the way, because you're ruining their selfie.

Yeah...you could go for a romantic stroll through Hyde Park, but it's freaking freezing and you're going to stand in dog poop.

Here are my suggestions:

Places & Dates

Museums & Galleries

Get some cultural in you, and have an intellectual conversation (and a smooch too).

The Horniman Museum is a little further out (Forest Hill) than your usual London museum, but it's 100% worth a visit, for a number of reasons - my personal favourite? It's free! It's such a beautiful spot, with a wonderful exhibition on Dinosaurs coming up...it genuinely looks like something out of Wes Anderson film. Have you seen Moonrise Kingdom or Rushmore? Now that's romantic.

Another brilliant freebie is the London Photographers Gallery, smack bang in the middle of London, as it's just off Oxford Street. There's a cafe on ground floor so you can grab a bite to eat, and take a wander around the floors. Photography is always a much more intimate form of art, and Valentines is a pretty intimate day...perfect match.

OR, why not go all out and do a Shoreditch crawl? There are SO MANY free gallery's in that area, that you'll be spoiled for choice. You can pop your head into the brilliant Hales Gallery, which currently is hosting a multi-disciplinary exhibition by Jeff Keen. From there you can swing by Rivington Place for one of their innovative shows. The other option is simply walking about and see what you come across. Shoreditch is always packed with culture and events, you'll be bound to find something.

Events

Still plenty of options for doers rather than observers.

Why take Valentines so seriously, and why fork out a fortune for a dinner and hotel? Head to Drink, Shop, Do in Kings Cross for their take on Valentines (it's boozy). They're hosting a boozy brunch, for two hours per table, for just £15?!?! And it's not just bagels and Bloody Mary's they're providing. Each table gets a selection of boardgames to get competitive with. If you're relationship can survive Monopoly then it's built to last.

Option B is heading to the cinema - how conventional I hear you cry, well there's never anything conventional about Prince Charles Theatre in Leicester Square. On actual Valenties Day, I believe they're showing Breakfast at Tiffany's, Moulin Rouge (A FREAKING SING-A-LONG) and Weekend. So basically, all romantic films - but thank god they're not showing some 00's romcom. This is good stuff!

And there you have it, my suggestions on how to avoid the soppy mulsh.....but still have a big fat snog.